I Like You...

Lot of Borat floating around this day. First, Bob Emanuel
conjured up images of the most famous Kazakh journalist in the world in his
high school column this morning.

Now, sitting at BAC, I see Borat's going to be a big part of the in-game entertainment
today. Looks like the Panthers' crew has interspersed pieces of Borat's movie
with images of the Ice Dancers presented by Lessthanzero.

Honestly, I think the dancer calendar should be able to sell itself on its own
merits. But that's just me.

-- UPDATE: Michael Yormark tells me he has nixed
the Borat piece. It’s actually one of the few I liked.

-- Not a whole lot of news coming out of morning practice today; looks like
Garth "Bryan" Murray is going to be out a while. JM says Murray's
shoulder is dislocated, and that isn't ever fun. May know more about his status
tonight after Murray meets with a team doc before the game.

-- The Panthers are very interested in staying with Rochester, but JM says the
team is concerned with the American's financial problems. Various reports say
the franchise owes the city a nice sized check and is looking for a more
favorable lease. JM added the Panthers have no interest in owning the
franchise, and that came as a total shock to this sports writer.

The Panthers have enough trouble marketing one team, don't need to take on
another.

-- Tanner Glass says he hopes to make an impression, and knows he needs to make
the most of this opportunity. There's a roster spot open right now, and JM
isn't giving it away for free. If Tanner doesn't provide what JM wants, let the
Rochester merry-go-round begin.

-- Has anyone seen those Brady Quinn Subway ads filmed out in front of
Cleveland Brown Stadium? Most playing time he's seen all year. Who could have
seen these Browns in the playoff hunt after the opening day debacle against the
Steelers? Not me. I picked them to win two games total after that.

-- The Islanders didn't skate this morning. No idea why. Maybe they were out on
a team fishing expedition, looking for a big marlin. Sorry fellas, Detroit
already cleaned us out. We have plenty of dolphin left, though.

-- Unfortunately.

-- Speaking of that, Cam Cameron says he has not been calling plays for the
Panthers. JM says he did during the past three games.

Don't know who is telling
the truth.

-- Speaking of not telling the truth, Nick Saban says he said he was "proud" his team
was headed to the Independence Bowl? Yup, gotta love Shreveport during the
Holidays.

-- Randy Shannon just called and said Shreveport don't sound that bad...

-- Had a meeting with Michael Yormark before the game Friday. He says the team has toned down the advertising in the arena, but has amped it back up as a favor to a few advertisers around the holidays. Says the car commercials are gone after the New Year. I ain't betting on that one.

-- DJ Irie Jr. now playing a little Flock of Seagulls. Diggin' it..

-- Surprisingly, Sunrise was passed over by the biased staff at Sports Illustrated for the honor of America's new Hockeytown. For some reason, St. Paul, Minn., beat out places like Sunrise, Atlanta, Washington, Phoenix and Toledo. OK, I made that last part up. Toledo was not passed over, it was just late in getting its paperwork in. Other cities beat out by St. Paul: Detroit (the self-proclaimed Hockeytown), Philly and Buffalo.

-- Old pal Jon Sim is enjoying the game from the press box tonight. He tore up a knee in the second game of the season after signing a longterm deal with the Islanders. Hopefully he's back soon...

-- Hey...the Lexus ad! Got a good game going here and the air just got sucked out of the building...

-- One minute to play in the period...Un minuto!

-- END OF ONE...SCORELESS!

-- Thanks to Tampa Trib for blogging tonight so we can have this: Largo 6, Aquinas 0, early in second quarter of Class 5A state semifinal game. Will update Northwestern score once I get ahold of Andre...

-- Deerfield Beach holding a 7-6 lead on the nation's No.1...STA down 13-0 now....

-- Panthers dominating this game, not getting anything through...Stephen Weiss gets a penalty shot, second in as many games for the Panthers...this one misses too...

-- Andy Hilbert takes on the Panthers, scraps with Olli a bit...first penalty of the game comes at 6:25 of the second...

-- Scary moment...Bryan Allen tripped up, flies into board...sickening thud...looked like he went in headfirst, only he broke spill with arm...still, hard hit..Guerin in the box at 7:16..